Like a compilation CD rescued from the sales bin of an outback petrol station, this year’s MTV Video Music Awards’ red carpet featured certified hits, surrounded by filler fashion begging for a fast-forward button.
Award-winner Taylor Swift’s black Versace gown set a conservative tone with limited staying power. A nostalgic cover of Versace creations made famous by supermodel Cindy Crawford and actor Elizabeth Hurley, the gown offered more restraint than the nude illusion Oscar de la Renta mini-dress worn by Swift to last year’s ceremony.
Olivia Rodrigo in Ludovic de Saint Sernin, Taylor Swift in Versace and Doja Cat in Monse at the MTV VMAs.Credit: AP
French designer Ludovic de Saint Sernin’s silver gown with 150,000 Swarovski crystals, worn by Vampire singer Olivia Rodrigo, and Megan Thee Stallion’s demure sheer-corset from Brandon Blackwood were comfortingly familiar.
While WAP singer Megan’s choice could be described as demure, it signalled a shift in the scented, smoke-filled air, with collaborator Cardi B contributing by elevating the event’s style credentials.
Cardi’s strapless gown, encrusted with more than 1000 hair clips, was by Turkish-British designer Dilara Findikoglu, who captured the attention of fashion editors with a cutlery-encrusted dress at London Fashion Week last year.
The rapper’s timing in raiding Findikoglu’s racks is as impeccable as her rhymes, with Findikoglu already tipped as a replacement for Sarah Burton, who announced her departure from British brand Alexander McQueen this week.
Selena Gomez’s flamenco red, nude illusion Oscar De La Renta dress, comedian Tiffany Haddish’s sheer flapper-inspired Jason Wu gown and Brazilian singer Anitta’s sheer Schiaparelli haute couture dress, featuring a surreal keyhole cut-out, further blurred the aesthetic lines between the Video Music Awards and the more formal Grammy Awards.
Even the bone accessories entwined in Saweetie’s pink Barbie-meets-The-Flinstones dress couldn’t detract from the modest, gathered silhouette executed by Area designers Piotrek Panszczyk and Beckett Fogg.
For a shining moment, it felt as though celebrity stylists had hit the nude illusion sweet spot, pioneered by US designer Bob Mackie’s creations for Cher and Tina Turner. Then Doja Cat arrived.
The adult revelations of Doja Cat’s spider-web knit dress from Monse, with matching sheer pumps from Amina Muaddi, would send the title character of children’s book Charlotte’s Web spinning. From the performer who wore a prosthetic cat nose to this year’s Met Gala, the attempt to shock was both expected and somewhat disappointing.
Nicki Minaj’s sheer (you’re picking up on the theme here, right?) Dolce & Gabbana dress was even more confusing. The pink ensemble combining a satin bodysuit with lace, net and a veil crept into the same so-bad-it’s-good category, which allowed Sisqo chart success with the Thong Song in 1999.
Montero singer Lil Nas X was just as playful, but slightly more successful, in a flowing white outfit, with feathered headpiece reminiscent of Princess Leia’s Star Wars hairstyle, from genderless label Palomo Spain. The outfit, which debuted days ago on the New York Fashion Week runway, reinforced Lil Nas’s commitment to headwear, having tapped British gender-neutral designer Harris Reed for his extravagant peacock feather headpiece at last year’s Video Music Awards.
Thing were taken down even more notches – out of the top 10 – by singer Tinashe’s X-rated net dress, with strategic electrical tape, and Kaliii’s floor-length orange dress with a sheer, mid-thigh panel.
After such a hopeful beginning, the red carpet descended into a visual cacophony, sending eyes searching for rest. The children of video vanguard award winner Shakira were caught in the vivid crossfire in matching Versace tracksuits better suited to Elton John.
The end fittingly came with the buttock cut-outs on Bebe Rexha’s leather dress. This flopped harder than the 1981 sex comedy, So Fine, starring Ryan O’Neal about jeans with buttock cut-outs.
If you’re looking for the So Fine DVD, try that petrol station with compilation CDs.
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